In the ongoing absence of UK customers being able to order from the Zwift shop, can anyone recommend a similarly priced foot pod to the Zwift Run Pod that they have found to work well with Zwift?
This is for a casual bit of running as an aside to more serious cycling so budget is more important than incredible accuracy (though being thereabouts would be good of course!).
Many thanks 
I use a Garmin footpod that is fairly good. It isn’t perfect but keeps you in the ballpark. I’m going to buy a Runn device eventually from Zwift or the manufacturer in the hopes of a bit more accuracy though.
Thanks for that info and recommendation. Unfortunately Garmin appears to have long since discontinued their foot pod 
(unless I’m missing something). Any other recommendations greatly appreciated, many thanks.
It is possible that the Garmin footpod is sold out everywhere. It’s also possible it is no longer being manufactured but I didn’t hear anything about that. There is also the Stryd footpod which some people like too.
The Garmin footpod is long since discontinued. Only hope is picking one up used but they are fetching top price at the minute.
The Stryd is the market leader but you’ll be paying 200 quid.
In between is the Runn. Available in the UK for 90 quid. It’s more accurate than the footpod and has many advantages such as not having to worry about changing trainers etc…
Do you need a pod aswell for cadence?
No. It does cadence too. Quite well actually. It detects the vibrations through the treadmill.
I was reading up on the Wahoo Tickr X (2nd generation) Heart Rate Monitor. The specs (and DC Rainmaker) indicate that it will broadcast ‘as a foot pod as well’. Thus it should give you enough run metrics to use with Zwift Run.
Mine will arrive on Feb 2nd, and i’ll try it out! (and will update this thread - if i remember )
Thanks very much, that sounds like a good alternative, that could be useful elsewhere too. I’d be really interested to know how it goes on the treadmill with Zwift 
…or indeed if anyone else uses the Tickr X successfully as a foot pod alternative to run on Zwift???
The DC Rainmaker article suggests it will work, as do the comments but no-one is definitive about it, nor how accurate it is 
It does work with varying success.
Google Stephen Cousins on YouTube.
He does a really comprehensive review of all treadmill recording devices
Thanks. Zwift support have said the Tickr X is not officially supported in terms of pace data and may have significant accuracy issues.
I think the basic choice for under £90-100, without being able to purchase a Zwift Run Pod currently, is to go for a Polar Stride sensor for around £50.
I’d also need a Bluetooth dongle for a few pounds too, as my desktop inexplicably doesn’t have built in BT and I’ve never been consistently successful with a Companion App bridge.
Thanks to all!
If you have £100 I’d either look towards a second hand Stryd or go for an NPE RUNN which is £90. You can either go Ant+ or BT with that. I would go ANT+ for the ease of connection and less issues.
Thanks. The running is very much secondary to the riding so am trying to just keep it as cheap as possible while getting up and running
The Zwift Pod would have achieved this as it’s the cheapest option out there. It depends how you feel about data accuracy. If it doesn’t bother you then maybe hold out for one in the coming weeks. I’m sure the UK shop issue will soon resolve itself.
If accuracy is important to a degree then potentially you’e had a lucky escape not getting one and you can look at alternates.
Yes, I would normally have just gone with the cheap option of the Run Pod but will now either go with the next cheapest, Polar Stride, or perhaps see how the shop situation pans out…however, predictably, nothing related to Brexit every seems to be resolved quickly 
Thanks for the help!
Good to know that Zwift has said ‘not officially supported’. I did manage to test it out last night. Zwift (running on iPhone 12 Pro for this test) found the ‘Speed / Cadence’ signal from the Tickr X. And also the HR signal. (screen shots attached)
I don’t have a treadmill, so I headed out for a run. It works - more or less. Yes, Zwift gets the signal, and yes, my avatar moves, but the ‘pace’ in the game is not matching the pace in the real world.
Yes, i was comparing when my avatar was on a flat road.
No, i was not able to calibrate the sensor, since that process requires me to run at 3 different pre-set speeds, and it was hard to judge (outdoors, in the dark, trying to keep an eye out for cars, people, etc )
So i will try to calibrate it in Zwift somehow, and test again.
tl;dr → It works. Not perfect (when using it outdoors). Need to calibrate and test again.
Thanks for the update, all useful info and much appreciated. I’d be interested to hear what your experience is like if you manage to calibrate too.
2nd attempt today. Gave the calibration another shot. Before calibration, i was seeing the difference (between the pace on my Garmin, and the pace in Zwift with the Tickr X) to be about 45seconds/km to 1:00min/km.
ie: Garmin showing 4:45min/km. Zwift showing 5:30 - 5:45min/km
After calibration, it was more like 15-30 seconds per km difference. (Zwift still reporting slower pace relative to Garmin)
In the screenshot, you can see that Zwift reported 8.88km, compared to Garmin 10.4. HOWEVER, keep in mind that in Zwift, there would have been elevation changes, and the pace would not have changed, therefore the distance covered is expected to be less.
Two more things to try:
Non-tech follow up:
Like i said, getting the Tickr X to work with Zwift Run, whilst running outdoors (since i have no access to treadmill) was a bit of a fun experiment, and i am content with the results.
Ha I think that’s close enough to say it works, even if not super accurate. Glad it is working out for you
